b) point me in the right direction as far as setting up cross-compiler to compile for MIPS. (I've got cygwin running on my XP box with gcc, if that helps... But I've no clue how to make it compile for MIPS)

iMagic

PS. I've done a lot of development for DOS/Win mostly using MS tools, but I am just starting with linux. Please take it easy on me. :)

a) point me to a link where I can download one of these (compiled)
Try this thread (http://dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38805) for your editor.

b) point me in the right direction as far as setting up cross-compiler to compile for MIPS. (I've got cygwin running on my XP box with gcc, if that helps... But I've no clue how to make it compile for MIPS)
Jamie has some great scripts (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46361) for setting up the toolchain and even building a kernel. You can ignore the kernel script and just use the compiler build script. Couldn't be simpler.